A blog following the crochet adventures of a young, self-taught crochet enthusiast!

This beanie was inspired by the yarn which my husband brought home for me a few weeks ago. I wasn’t certain I loved the colours, but I liked the soft and interesting texture and I LOVED that hubby brought me home yarn!

So I wondered, what can I crochet that makes sense of these dull browns/greys? I also wanted to make up my own pattern, so I knew something simple was a good plan.

Obviously, a cosy teddy bear hat was the answer!

On a side note, can I talk about crochet patterns for a moment? I’m a big fan of crochet diagrams rather than written patterns (at least for some things) because they give me a much more visual idea of what I am making. So I find it’s much quicker to grasp a pattern for things like motifs, granny squares, earrings and flowers, or even just stitch techniques through a drawn diagram. The other great thing about the diagrams is that the symbols are universal! So it doesn’t matter whether you go by UK or US crochet terms, if you follow the diagram you will be doing the right stitches. That’s clearly a plus…. right? But I have found since learning to crochet that my love of diagrams does not seem to be shared by the English-speaking crochet world. I find all sorts of beautiful crochet diagrams, especially for clothing, with Russian or Japanese instructions, but rarely a diagram on an English website. Why is this?

Anyway, given that most people seem to find the written patterns easier, I have written the pattern below (using US terms). But I have also drawn up a diagram of the ear pattern because that’s how I developed it and it was good practice for me to try and draw it up using the computer. I would recommend using the written and diagrammed patterns together because they compliment each other well in making the instructions as clear as possible.

Also, this is the first pattern I have ever written up for anyone else’s use so please forgive any errors and feel free to give me feedback to improve the way I write them up in the future!

My yarn was an Australian-made, 100% acrylic yarn by the brand Panda. Unfortunately it is a discontinued line and it doesn’t specify on the packaging the ply, so it might be challenging for you to find a perfect match if you want to make it yourself. Luckily, it really shouldn’t matter too much – just pick a yarn that’s got a lovely mix of browns and some texture and then choose a crochet hook of an appropriate size for that yarn. I used a 5.00mm crochet hook and made two versions of the beanie: one used a single strand of the yarn, and the other used double to get a thicker chunky feel to the beanie. Both worked perfectly well, but remember that if you use a chunky yarn (or two strands) the beanie will end up slightly larger in size. Don’t worry though – you can just measure the beanie at the end of each round and stop when it gets to the right size! I will explain this sizing technique more after the pattern.

Round 1: Chain 2, crochet 10dc into the ring, join with a sl st into the top of the first dc. Pull magic ring tight.

Round 2: Chain 2, 2dc in each stitch around (20 stitches total).

Round 3: Chain 2, 2dc in first stitch, dc in next stitch, *2dc in next stitch, dc in next stitch* all the way around (30 stitches total).

Round 4: Chain 2, 2dc in first stitch, dc in next two stitches, *2dc in next, dc in next two stitches* all the way around (40 stitches total).

Round 5: Chain 2, 2dc in first stitch, dc in next three stitches, *2dc in next, dc in next 3 stitches* all the way around (50 stitches total).

Rounds 6-12: Chain 2, dc in each stitch around (50 stitches total).

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Ear pattern (make 2):

Start with a magic (adjustable) ring.

Row 1 (green in diagram): Chain 2, 10dc into the ring, pull magic ring tight just until the stitches fan out to form a semi-circle. Chain 1 and turn.

Row 2 (pink in diagram): Sc in each stitch, working backward along the last row (10). Chain 1 and turn.

Row 3 (blue in diagram): Sc in each stitch. Do not turn work.

Row 4 (purple in diagram): Chain 1, sc in each stitch along the bottom of the ear to neaten up the edge. That should be 6 single crochets, including one directly into the magic ring. Continue around the ear, sc in each of the 10 stitches from row 3. Fasten off leaving a long tail.

To attach ears:

Choose how far apart you want the ears. I think about 3 inches of space between the ears looks pretty good, but play around with it to see what you like best.

Lay the beanie flat and measure an equal distance down each side of the beanie from the centre (so 1.5 inches each direction for my 3 inch spacing). Mark this measurement with a stitch marker (or a bobby pin like I do!).

Use the long tail from the ear to sew the ear to the beanie where you marked. I actually just sewed one ear on and then folded the beanie in half vertically to make sure my second ear was placed the same distance down. Because we did not add stitches with each row in the pattern (every row had 10 stitches), the ear will curl in on the edges. Make sure you sew the ears so that the curled parts face forwards on both ears.

So for this beanie, I simply measured the diameter of my work after rounds 3, 4 and 5 and stopped when the width of the crown reached the desired 5.5″-6″ (for a 1 year old). Then I continued repeating round 6 until the height of my hat was 6.5″-7″.

Go check out the chart and tutorial on the link above at Heart Hook Home for her easy instructions on how many stitches to add in consecutive rounds if you want to make this beanie in a bigger size. I could write instructions here for you but it seems a bit pointless when someone has already written such a great post about it!